A Fall 2019 PTR - 3rd & 5th Birthdays, MNSSHP, F&W Festival

[jrmint427]

Day 5: Magic Kingdom

I'm actually really excited to have two MK days in a row. Our plan is to sleep in after being up so late the night before. We will move from WL to an offsite condo this day, so we will need to be up and packed by 11:00am. We'll be coming back to the resort for dinner in the evening (any guesses?!), so we will leave our luggage with the front desk this day.

Then we will take the boat to Magic Kingdom. Our plan is to start with lunch at Casey's Corner. Their vegan slaw dog was one of my favorite food items last year, so I'm excited to try it again.



We have a 12:40pm FP for Peter Pan, so worst case, we'll head there before lunch if we're moving slowly this morning. We also have a FP to meet Rapunzel and Tiana. It was so much drama to get the girls to decide which princess they wanted to dress for. They eventually both landed on Tiana, so I'm encouraging the adults to wear something green. This is one day where we'll have just one outfit at the parks.

We also have a FP for Jungle Cruise. Last year it was dark when we used our FP, so I'm excited to see it in daylight this year.

We're planning to do rides like IASW and the carousel every MK day because they are favorites, and we'll probably use the late afternoon to let the girls pick which rides they want to go back to. We're hoping to meet Tinker Bell around 5pm, and I'll be looking for a 4th FP to do that. Touring Plans predicts a 45 minute wait otherwise, and if it's really that long and we can't get a FP, we'll probably skip her.

Our plan is to head back to the resort no later than 6:00pm... because we have a dinner date with Snow White! I am so excited about the Storybook Dining. It took awhile to find a reservation for 7 there. The girls are terrified of the Evil Witch and want to meet Dopey but not Grumpy, so I'm hoping it's not a complete disaster for them. I do have Snow White dresses and t-shirts for the adults. Snow White is still one of their favorite princesses, here are pictures from the past two years at Epcot. Sorry for the sideways picture... I will need to figure that out before posting my trip report!





After dinner we'll pick up our bags and head to the condo for the evening.

 

[jrmint427]

Day 6: Hollywood Studios

This was one of my harder days to plan, because there is so much we want to do at HS this year! But we only have one day and I'm expecting larger crowds here with the opening of Star Wars. Our travel agent snagged us a reservation for Oga's this day, but I ended up dropping it. I still have mixed feelings, but it was for 11am, and when I found out it's just drinks and mostly standing room, our family voted to skip it this time around and get lunch instead.

Our plan is to get to the park at opening and try to meet Daisy Duck first thing. I have adorable Daisy Duck outfits for the girls from last year that they never got to wear. Thankfully they still fit!

We have FPs for Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story Mania and Frozen Singalong. I'm planning for Pat, his mom and I to go to Tower of Terror while my parents take the girls to Disney Jr. Live, probably in the morning.

The girls really want to meet Doc McStuffins again - she's one of the few non-face characters that DD4 enjoyed meeting the past 2 years. Two years ago, we passed her at AK and I told my mom we could skip her because my girls didn't watch her show. Then my daughter, who was turning 3 at the time, flipped out when she saw Doc and insisted on meeting her - apparently they watch at school. Last year she commented that Doc's house had moved - she remembered that she wasn't at HS the year before. She gave Doc an extra long hug last year and it was the sweetest thing ever. This year I have doc dresses for both girls.

2017:


2018:


I think we'll also try to meet Fancy Nancy. I haven't told DD4 about her being there yet but I know she'll want to meet her as soon as she sees her.

We're planning to eat lunch at Woody's Lunch box. I couldn't get a FP for SDD so we'll have to see how long the line is and whether I can get a same-day FP, but we may end up skipping it this year Same with Aliens... will depend on the lines. I'm not waiting more than 30 minutes for that one!

I have the Muppets on our list too (a favorite of my dad's), and we'd like to check out the new Cars show. We have dinner reservations at 50's Prime Time. We were supposed to eat there last year and canceled at the last minute, so I'm excited to give it a try this time around (fingers crossed!). We're also planning to go to Fantasmic, which we skipped last year because it was such a cold night.

I'm a little nervous about this day because I feel like we're trying to squeeze a lot into one day, and we may be pretty tired by this point in the trip. I want to get to Rock n' Roller Coaster and at least check out the Star Wars land area too, but don't think we'll get to everything.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

And I'm sad now haha - I was hoping that we got to meet Jasmine and Aladdin together, but it makes more sense that they would swap out!

They meet as Aladdin/Abu and Jasmine/Genie during the party. However, during a normal MK day, they meet together. If you want to see them as a couple, just switch this from a party priority to a regular hours thing. It's a pretty easy line to meet back up in, too, so you could leave an adult there while the girls ride magic carpets, then all get back together for the meet.

For your HS day, do you think the grands would be willing/able to take the kids back and you could do a date night with your husband?

After you use your day FPs, you could start refreshing to pick up ToT FPs on your bands and then RnR on your kids' bands. Star tours line gets really short late in the night so you could use your rnr (or single rider) and tot fps, standby star tours, single rider smugglers run, look around Star wars, and be in line for sdd just before park close.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Then we will take the boat to Magic Kingdom. Our plan is to start with lunch at Casey's Corner. Their vegan slaw dog was one of my favorite food items last year, so I'm excited to try it again.

Have you heard about the new all you care to eat vegan platter at Whispering Canyon? I heard that it is pretty good.

Our plan is to head back to the resort no later than 6:00pm... because we have a dinner date with Snow White! I am so excited about the Storybook Dining. It took awhile to find a reservation

We are doing this in December and I can't wait!!!!

We're planning to eat lunch at Woody's Lunch box. I couldn't get a FP for SDD so we'll have to see how long the line is and whether I can get a same-day FP, but we may end up skipping it this year Same with Aliens... will depend on the lines. I'm not waiting more than 30 minutes for that one!

Slinky is getting sooooo hard to get. It's silly! Toy Story Mania is fun though. I feel like it is an ok ride to "settle" for.

 

[jrmint427]

They meet as Aladdin/Abu and Jasmine/Genie during the party. However, during a normal MK day, they meet together. If you want to see them as a couple, just switch this from a party priority to a regular hours thing. It's a pretty easy line to meet back up in, too, so you could leave an adult there while the girls ride magic carpets, then all get back together for the meet.

For your HS day, do you think the grands would be willing/able to take the kids back and you could do a date night with your husband?

After you use your day FPs, you could start refreshing to pick up ToT FPs on your bands and then RnR on your kids' bands. Star tours line gets really short late in the night so you could use your rnr (or single rider) and tot fps, standby star tours, single rider smugglers run, look around Star wars, and be in line for sdd just before park close.

Those are good tips! Yes, I think if we asked, my parents would take the kids back after Fantasmic so we could stay later. It will probably depend on how tired we are at that point, but if we're up for it (or if the kids want to go back even earlier), that is a great idea!

Have you heard about the new all you care to eat vegan platter at Whispering Canyon? I heard that it is pretty good.

No! I googled now I had been planning on the quinoa cakes but now I'm torn! That looks so good.

Slinky is getting sooooo hard to get. It's silly! Toy Story Mania is fun though. I feel like it is an ok ride to "settle" for.

It makes me sad, but I agree. It's probably for the best because TSM is one our whole family will enjoy. DD2 is going to be just on the border of 38 inches I think (I need to measure again - a month or two ago she was at 37 inches barefoot), and my parents won't ride it. I'm glad we got to ride it last year so I won't be so upset if it doesn't work out this time around.

 

[jrmint427]

Day 7: Magic Kingdom

We landed on three Magic Kingdom days for this trip. It's the girls' favorite right now and last year they really enjoyed riding their favorite rides multiple time. We were planning on a half day here, but this day kind of grew into a longer day.

I watched for a Bon Voyage reservation for a really long time, and one finally popped up about two weeks ago. There are 7 of us and we are offsite for half our trip, so it was a little harder to get the more popular reservations this time around. The best I was able to do was a 7:45am reservation, which is much earlier than any of us wanted. But, the girls were so excited, and their grandparents agreed it will be worth it. My husband is the only one who wasn't so sure about the early start time I loved this breakfast and thought it was among the best character interactions we've had at a character meal.

Last year:


Our plan is to go to MK after breakfast. This one took awhile last year, so I'm planning about 1.5 hours. I'm hoping if we leave by 9:15, we can be at MK just after 10:00 (we're driving). Our plan is to meet Gaston first. I think he meets at 10:00am, but that might be pushing it, so more likely we'll try to be in line early for his 10:50 set. I'm guessing we'll be fine, but if we miss him in this window, we have some "open time" in the afternoon to come back.

He was a favorite of ours two years ago, when he pinned my mom up against the wall to put his moves on her :-D Last year he was a little too nice to be Gaston, but the girls loved him. I'm hoping we get a friend of Gaston who will have some fun with us.

2017:




2018:


Our FPs are to meet Ariel, meet Cinderella & Elena, and for Splash Mountain. Lots of character meets this day! Between our FPs we plan to re-ride the girls' favorites (I'm expecting the carousel and IASM, but the could surprise us).

We plan to eat QS lunch at Cosmic Ray's. Splash Mountain is after lunch, but DD2 will probably be too short to ride, and I'll be surprised if DD4 wants to - not so much because of the drop but because she doesn't like having water splashed in her face. We may do rider swap for that one and let the girls play at the nearby playground or go watch the parade while the adults take turns. We've gone to WDW 4 times since 2012 and I still have not been on Splash Mountain since I was in high school - and that was at Disney Land. I have never been on Splash Mountain at Disney World. So this is a "must do" this trip

In the afternoon our only plans are the Tiki Room and Pirates (if we can convince the girls to ride). We should have some "free time" to go back to anything we missed earlier in the week, and I'll see what same day FPs I can get.

We're planning Pecos Bill's for dinner. I'd like to try for the Rapunzel lantern pictures with the girls this trip, but will probably depend on how we're doing and how long the line is by the time we get there.

I would love to stay for the 9:00pm fireworks, but the girls are adamant that they do NOT want to see fireworks on this trip. It makes me sad because I love fireworks, but they were also really scared last year, and we'll get to see fireworks at MNSSHP (not the same, I know). So we'll most likely aim to leave by 8:30pm to be far from the park before the firworks start.

 

[jrmint427]

Day 8: Animal Kingdom

Our last day will be back at Animal Kingdom. The girls love the zoo feel / animals, and it's a favorite for most of the adults too. An extra half day here means we get to do "everything" and then repeat some favorites.

Our first stop will be coffee at Creature Comforts. I may have already mentioned this, but I built coffee plans into each day this year because caffeine is a must for the adults in our family. We have a 9:00am FP for Na'vi River Journey, so our only goal is to be at the park to ride it before 10am.

We'll do the Safaris and gorilla trail, and then should have a little time before lunch. We plan to eat at Satu'li Canteen again. I think it's the only QS we love so much we are planning to eat there twice this trip.

Afternoon plans involve Expedition Everest for me, Pat and MIL while my parents take the girls to Triceratops Spin and the Boneyard. We will go to the Up! bird show and Finding Nemo. Pat likes It's Tough to be a Bug, but I refuse to see it. I'm not a bug person, even if they are cartoons bugs - and definitely don't want to pretend bugs are crawling on me. Hoping a few people might go with him.

We'll eat dinner at Restaurantosaurus, but should have some "free" time before then.

I did something I would normally never do - I booked 2 evening FPs. We wanted to try the evening Safari last year but the wait time was too long for us at that point in the day, and we also did not see ROL last year. ROL is one of the only "must dos" on Pat's list this year, so to make things easier on us, I booked FPs for the evening safari and ROL.

The last day is always so sad, but after 7 park days, I have a feeling we'll be ready to go home. We'll start the two-day drive home the next day.

Thank you for all the tips as we finalize our plans!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following!
I just caught up with the last details of your PTR! It’s coming soon!
Your plans sound really exciting! I like the fact that you left a lot open as plans can change a lot with young kids!
I love your daughter’s outfits BTW, they are adorable!
I am planning a February trip with my daughter and son who will be the same age (almost 3 and 5) so I can’t wait to hear how everything went for you! I have a lot of similar ADR’s for character dining too so I am excited to hear your reviews!

 

[jrmint427]

I just caught up with the last details of your PTR! It’s coming soon!
Your plans sound really exciting! I like the fact that you left a lot open as plans can change a lot with young kids!
I love your daughter’s outfits BTW, they are adorable!
I am planning a February trip with my daughter and son who will be the same age (almost 3 and 5) so I can’t wait to hear how everything went for you! I have a lot of similar ADR’s for character dining too so I am excited to hear your reviews!

Thanks for reading! I did try to leave more "open" time for this year's trip. Will see how it works out, but still feels like we have a lot packed in too.

I'll look forward to following along with your trip too! It's such a fun age to be taking kids to Disney